bowdlerisation
Definition
- Noun:
- The act of removing or altering parts of a text considered offensive or indecent: A bowdlerisation is the process of censoring a piece of writing by deleting or modifying material deemed improper.
- A version of a text that has been censored in this way: A bowdlerisation is also the resulting text itself, which has been expurgated.
Usage Examples
Noun (Act):
- The bowdlerisation of classic novels for Victorian audiences often removed entire scenes.
- Critics argued that the film adaptation suffered from excessive bowdlerisation, stripping the story of its power.
Noun (Resulting Text):
- This edition is not the original play but a weak bowdlerisation.
- She compared the original manuscript with the 19th-century bowdlerisation to study the changes.
Advanced Usage
- The term often carries a negative connotation, implying that the censorship is excessive, prudish, or damages the artistic integrity of the original work.
- It is frequently used in literary, cinematic, and academic criticism.
- The scholar decried the bowdlerisation of history textbooks, calling it a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Variants and Related Words
- Bowdlerize (verb): To remove or alter parts of (a text) considered vulgar or objectionable.
- The publisher decided to bowdlerize the novel for a younger audience.
- Bowdlerizer (noun): A person who bowdlerizes.
- Expurgation (noun): A synonym for the act of bowdlerizing; a more formal term.
Synonyms
- Censorship: The suppression or prohibition of speech or writing.
- Expurgation: The act of removing objectionable material from a text.
- Sanitization: Making something acceptable by removing unpleasant or offensive elements.
Antonyms
- Unabridged version: A complete, uncensored text.
- Restoration: The act of returning something to its original, uncensored state.
Word Origin
- Derived from the name of Dr. Thomas Bowdler, who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare's works in 1818, titled . The term has since been applied to any similar act of censorship.
Noun
- the act of deleting or modifying all passages considered to be indecent
- written material that has been bowdlerized
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